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The Leeds International Piano Competition has announced the five pianists who have made it through to the Finals of the world-famous Competition this weekend.  Each Finalist plays a concerto with the Hallé conducted by Edward Gardner at Leeds Town Hall, broadcast live by BBC Radio 3 and medici.tv.

They are:

Aljoša Jurinić (Croatia, aged 29).

He will play Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor, K491 (Friday 14 September, 7pm)

Anna Geniushene (Russia, aged 27).

She will play Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.3 in C major, Op.26 (Friday 14 September, 7.50pm)

Mario Häring (Germany, aged 28)

He will play Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 (Friday 14 September, 9pm)

Eric Lu (USA, aged 20)

He will play Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58 (Saturday 15 September, 7.50pm)

Xinyuan Wang (China, aged 23)

He will play Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54 (Saturday 15 September, 7pm)

Meet all five competitors here

All performances will be live-streamed via MediciTV

The prize winners will be announced at 9pm and presentations made by Lang Lang at 9pm on Saturday 15 September.

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The Competition began in April, with 68 pianists of the world’s best young pianists, aged between 20 and 29 years old, with international First Rounds in Berlin, Singapore and New York. The five Finalists were chosen from among the 24 who have been participating in Leeds since 6 September.

They are competing not just for generous cash prizes, worth over £90,000, but for a career-changing prize package which has redefined what a competition can offer young artists, and which has helped to attract young international pianists of the very highest calibre promising a thrilling Competition.

The portfolio prize includes artistic management with Askonas Holt, one of the world’s most renowned music management agencies; concerts and engagements with some of the world’s premiere venues and orchestras, including London’s Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras; concert and recording engagements with BBC Radio 3, broadcast partner of The Leeds. It also includes a major European tour organised with partners Steinway & Sons; a solo CD with a major label; a programme of recital engagements in Yorkshire and other UK venues; and mentoring from Co-Artistic Director Paul Lewis, Patron Murray Perahia and other members of the performer-led jury, chaired by Paul Lewis, and comprising Sa Chen, Imogen Cooper, Adam Gatehouse, Henning Kraggerud, Thomas Larcher, Gillian Moore, Lars Vogt and Shai Wosner.

www.leedspiano.com

@leedspiano

source: Albion Media

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A conversation with Jon Jacob…..

I love the opportunity for interesting interactions and conversations which social media creates, and I have made a number of significant friends in real life through the blogosphere. One is Jon Jacob, a fellow classical music devotee and blogger, and very much a kindred spirit.

We have enjoyed a number of joint projects over the past year, including two podcasts (the most recent with Adam Gatehouse, joint Artistic Director of the Leeds Piano Competition) and our latest – a conversation (by email) ahead of the finals of the Leeds Piano Competition which you can read here on Jon’s blog.

Jon will be attending the Leeds competition finals (sadly, I can’t make it) so do look out for his bulletins via Twitter and follow the competition updates with the hashtag #LeedsPiano2018.

All the performances are being live-streamed by MediciTV – a very welcome innovation as part of the revamped Leeds Competition coverage.

Podcast with Adam Gatehouse

Podcast with composer Thomas Hewitt Jones

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Who or what inspired you to take up the piano, and pursue a career in music?

Actually no one in my family is a musician; I never had pressure from my family, and the start of my adventure with music was one of the most natural processes – so natural that I still don’t know if I chose the music, or if the music chose me.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

Definitely some things I’ve read – philosophical essays, some big German, French, Italian and Russian novels. And of course the holy books.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Every time disenchantment has made its way into my heart.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

Always the next one!

But I’m still touched by some unbelievable experiences, such as my debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

The new one I’m going to practice!

But Mozart is without any doubt a great friend of mine.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I try to understand the changeable directions of my artistic wishes, and follow them. A concert programme should be a coherent spiritual journey, where different composers and music works interact and connect with each other, reaching a common vision at the end.

Some composers, however, are like lights in the dark for me: things may change on the surface, but deep inside they are always there. I can think of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, who have always been very close to my soul.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

The Amsterdam Concertgebouw: that staircase seems to be the stairway to heaven!

Who are your favourite musicians?

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Grigory Sokolov and Sergiu Celibidache.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

A concert with Maestro Gergiev in St. Petersburg. The concert was at 10pm, he arrived at 9.55pm. No rehearsal. Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 on the menu. My debut with him and his orchestra. Live broadcast in all Russia. I wouldn’t wish those first five minutes on my worst enemy!

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

To me, this kind of success simply doesn’t exist. Art is a never-ending creative process, and for this reason it will always be ahead of us, moving infinitely, and as finite humans we will never catch up!

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Just one: that there can be no Beauty if it’s not connected to the Truth.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

I don’t know where I’d like to be, but I certainly know where I’d like not to be: in the land of illusion. I wish to always remain devoted to the Truth.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

When a human being is able to connect with all his own innermost feelings.

What is your most treasured possession?

My will.

What is your present state of mind?

Restless.

Federico Colli appears at this year’s London Piano Festival which runs from 2-6 October at King’s Place. More information

Italian pianist Federico Colli is internationally recognised for his intelligent, imaginative interpretations and impeccable technique, praised for his ‘crystalline brilliance and translucence that takes you to the heart of everything he plays.’ (Gramophone)
Federico first came to prominence after winning the Salzburg Mozart Competition in 2011 and the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2012. Since then, he has been performing with orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, RAI National Symphony, BBC Symphony, Royal Scottish National, RTÉ National Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vienna Chamber, Camerata Salzburg, Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Polish Radio National Symphony, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana, National Philharmonic of Ukraine and Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira; at venues such as the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Berlin Konzerthaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Beethovenhalle Bonn, NDR Landesfunkhaus in Hannover, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Dublin National Concert Hall, Salle Cortot in Paris, Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall in Prague, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, Lingotto in Turin, Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw, Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg.

Read more about Federico Colli

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The Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast invites three people who play, listen or otherwise work in classical music to sit and discuss the subject they love. They’re unplanned conversations recorded as live, very nearly unedited, and more often than not take unexpected twists and turns.

In this the second Thoroughly Good Podcast to which I’ve contributed, Adam Gatehouse, co-Artistic Director of the Leeds International Piano Competition, outlines the changes the competition has undergone since the retirement of Dame Fanny Waterman (the competition’s founder), in addition to more general conversation about communication in performance and why the core canon of the piano repertoire is special.

LISTEN HERE